A crane works to lift a truck off of a passenger car after a semitruck crashed through the guardrail and slammed headfirst into oncoming traffic on the I-10 at Riverside Ave. in Rialto, Calif., Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Terry Pierson/Los Angeles Daily News via AP)

A day after a truck crashed through the center divider of the 10 Freeway in Rialto, slamming into several vehicles and killing five people, lanes finally reopened and motorists who had fortuitously missed the carnage were counting their blessings.

The lanes were reported open at 8:13 a.m. Saturday after the last of the orange cones was removed from the westbound lanes, the CHP log said.

CHP officers investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

A truck driver stuck in traffic looks at the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

***Graphic content*** Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Onlookers and drivers look at the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

San Bernardino County firefighters and tow truck drivers work together to remove a six-axle cement mover from the top of a car at the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Westbound traffic is backed up for miles on the I-10 after a five-person fatal wreck in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

San Bernardino County firefighters and tow truck drivers work together to remove a six-axle cement mover from the top of a car at the scene of a five-person fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

***Graphic content*** Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

People stand on the roof of a taco restaurant to get a better look at a five-fatal accident scene on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

CHP officers investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

CHP officers look over the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel remove two bodies from a car that was crushed under a six-axle cement mover after a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Caltrans workers wait for the OK to repair the center divider from investigators on the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

CHP officers investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

Emergency personnel remove two bodies from a car that was crushed under the six-axle cement mover after a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

San Bernardino County firefighters and tow truck drivers work together to remove a six-axle cement mover from the top of a car at the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

***Graphic Content*** Emergency personnel investigate the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

San Bernardino County firefighters and tow truck drivers work together to remove a six-axle cement mover from the top of a car at the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. February 16, 2018 (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

A CHP officer investigates the scene of a five-fatal accident on the Eastbound I-10 at the bottom of the Riverside Avenue offramp Friday in Rialto, CA. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

The vehicles were cleared at 3:22 a.m. and the far right two lanes were reopened at 4:05 a.m.

Caltrans on Saturday replaced the metal center-divider guardrail that the six-axle cement pump truck crashed through, spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said. Repairs to the shoulder on the eastbound side at Riverside Avenue still must be made, but the damage wasn’t affecting traffic, she said.

Five people died in the crash just before 1 p.m. Friday that completely shut down the freeway at the Riverside Avenue offramp. The truck was traveling west when it crashed through the guardrail, entered the eastbound lanes and struck five other vehicles, the CHP said.

The CHP has not said what caused the truck to veer off course as of early Saturday afternoon.

The Coroner’s Office was still attempting to identify the dead and notify their relatives as of Saturday afternoon.

Shutting down the lanes forced thousands of motorists onto other freeways and city streets. The 10 freeway is a key route for commuters and shippers. According to Caltrans, there were an average of 196,000 trips daily through the 10 at Riverside Avenue in Rialto in 2016, the most recent year for which data are available. The hourly peak was 13,100 trips and the daily peak was 202,000.

Meanwhile, motorists who had missed the catastrophe were giving thanks for their good fortune.

‪”I for some reason didn’t get on the 10 freeway (on Cedar) today after work to head to Redlands, like I normally do,” Irma Rodriguez wrote in a Facebook post. “Instead I took the streets and got onto the 10 freeway at Rancho Blvd. Little did I know I had just missed this entire accident. Wow I am at loss of words.”

Facebook poster Lystra Wilson thanked God that she was not involved in the collision.

“I had just driven through this exact area, eastbound, about 15 minutes prior to the collision. Thirty minutes later, I drove by this horrific scene, westbound, praying for those involved, hoping there were no deaths …. but there were. Tomorrow is not promised!” Wilson wrote.

Brian Rokos writes about public safety issues such as policing, criminal justice, scams, how law affects public safety, firefighting tactics and wildland fire danger. He has also covered the cities of San Bernardino, Corona, Norco, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Canyon Lake and Hemet. Before that he supervised reporters and worked as a copy editor. For some reason, he enjoys movies where the Earth is threatened with extinction.

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